The present invention provides a method and apparatus in a data processing system for printing characters. Data received include glyphs for output on an output device, wherein the glyphs are to be output using a selected device font. A list containing all device font supported glyphs is passed to the operating system. Monitoring for unsupported glyphs in the selected device font is performed by the operating system. In response to detecting a glyph unsupported by the selected device font, a backup system font is used to output the glyph to the output device.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method in a computer system for printing, the computer system including an operating system, the method comprising: receiving a plurality of characters for printing at the operating system in a computer system, wherein the plurality of characters are to be printed using a selected font; and responsive to a determination by the operating system that a specific character within the plurality of characters is absent from the selected font, printing the specific character using a backup font containing the specific character, while printing other characters within the plurality using the selected font.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the printing step comprises: passing a list of supported characters from a printer driver to the operating system; determining from the list if a specific character is supported by the printer driver; downloading the specific character contained in the backup font to the printer driver; and printing the specific character in the backup font, while printing other characters using the selected font.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the specific character is accessed by the operating system.
4. A method in a computer system for displaying characters using a font on a display device, the method comprising: receiving a data stream including characters for display on the display device; and responsive to a determination that a specific character in the data stream is absent from the font, displaying the specific character using a backup font containing the specific character, while other characters are displayed using the font.
5. A method in a data processing system for printing characters, the method comprising the data processing system implemented steps of: receiving data including glyphs for output on an output device, wherein the glyphs are to be output using a selected font; receiving list data of glyphs supported by the output device; monitoring for glyphs unsupported by the selected font; and responsive to detecting a glyph unsupported by the selected font, using a backup font to output the glyph to the output device, while remaining glyphs are output using the selected font.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the output device is a printer.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the output device is a display device.
8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the receiving, monitoring, and using steps are implemented in an operating system.
9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the receiving, monitoring, and using steps are implemented in a graphics system.
10. The method of claim 5 , wherein a set of information about the selected font and the backup font is created for use in monitoring for glyphs unsupported by the selected font and for using a backup font to output the glyph to the output device.
11. A method in a computer system for presenting glyphs using an output device, the method comprising: responsive to detecting a selection of font by an operating system, determining whether the font is able to output all glyphs in a range of glyphs that may be used; selecting a backup font based on the range of glyphs; responsive to receiving a data stream for output on the output device, determining whether particular glyphs are present that are outside of the range of glyphs; and responsive to a determination that the glyph is present, using the backup font to send the particular glyphs to the output device.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the using step includes: breaking up the data stream into a first set of glyphs containing glyphs within the range of glyphs and into a second set of glyphs containing glyphs outside of the range of glyphs; sending the first set of glyphs using the selected font; and sending the second set of glyphs using the backup font.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the output device is a printer.
14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the output device is a video display device.
15. A printer system comprising: a printer; and a device driver, wherein the device driver includes: receiving means for receiving data including glyphs for output to the printer, wherein the glyphs are to be output using a selected font; monitoring means for monitoring for glyphs unsupported by the selected font; and printing means, responsive to detecting a glyph unsupported by the selected font, printing glyph using a backup font to print the character at the printer.
16. The printer system of claim 15 , wherein the printing means comprises: requesting means for requesting the glyph in the backup font; and printing means for printing the glyph in the backup font.
17. A method in an operating system of a computer system for presenting glyphs using an output device, the method comprising: receiving a list of supported glyphs in a first font; determining if a selected glyph is on the list; responsive to a determination that a selected glyph is not on the list, drawing the glyph as a second font; and sending the drawn glyph to the output device.
18. The method of claim 17 , further comprises: receiving descriptive information for describing the appearance of a preferred second font; on the basis of the descriptive information, evaluating at least one font from a group of available fonts for appearance; and selecting the second font on a basis of the descriptive information.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the descriptive information is a first basis, the step of evaluating further comprises: determining if the at least one font of the group of available fonts contains at least one glyph not on the list of supported glyphs; and selecting the second font on a second basis of the at least one font of the group of available fonts containing at least one glyph not on the list of supported glyphs.
20. The method of claim 19 , the step of evaluating further comprises: determining if another font of the group of available fonts contains more glyphs not on the list of supported glyphs than the at least one font; and selecting the second font on the third basis of the another font having more glyphs not on the list of supported glyphs than the at least one font.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
March 25, 1999
July 16, 2002
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